


Taking Shots

by AnotherShotofBourbon



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2015-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-15 10:31:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3443876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnotherShotofBourbon/pseuds/AnotherShotofBourbon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asami is a regular customer at Avatar, a bar where Korra works as a bartender. She's been coming to the bar a couple of nights a month for almost a year now and Korra still doesn't know her name but it is way too late to ask.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taking Shots

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at Korra fanfiction, so you know, growing pains. This went longer than I'd thought it'd be, and there are some sexy bits at the very end of the story. Also I lack anything resembling an editor so any spelling/grammar/formatting mistakes are 100% my fault and I'll try to fix them as I notice them, but no guarantees. Enjoy?

The tanned, short haired woman popped her head into the kitchen. “Hey Bolin,” she said to the chef, interrupting his close conversation with Opal, the server, “Suits is here. She’ll probably be ordering some food so stop chatting with your girlfriend. Speaking of, Opal, didn’t you clock out like an hour ago?”

Opal nodded. “I’m not going to leave Bolin here all alone.”

“I get so alone back here in the kitchen,” Bolin said with a sad puppy-dog look.

Korra rolled her eyes, “Just don’t get into any trouble. And I’m not paying you for your love-bird chit chat Opal.”

“Just because you don’t have a love-life doesn’t mean you should take it out on us,” Opal called back in a joking tone.

Korra walked back into the dimly lit bar. It was close to one in the morning, and the few patrons were winding down their nights. Except for the new arrival. There was a pale woman who, frankly, looked exhausted sitting at the far end of the bar.

Her long dark hair was pooled on the table around her as her forehead rested on the dark, worn wood of the bar countertop.

“Long time no see,” Korra said and the head immediately pops up.

The woman sitting at the bar smiles as Korra expertly flips a coaster at her.

“Yeah, it has been… busy,” she said.

“I can tell, you look exhausted,” Korra responded with an easy smile. “What’ll it be tonight?”

“Rum.”

“Anything with that rum or should I just leave the bottle?” Korra asked as she placed a bottle of expensive Water Tribe Rum on the bar next to the woman.

“Ha, not quite that long. Rum and coke please. I need something to stay awake till I can get home.”

Korra nodded as she poured the drink. “I’d let you sleep here, but the booths aren’t that comfortable to sleep in, especially for someone who is so much taller than me.” The bartender placed the over-poured drink in front of customer and asked, “You want a menu?”

“Depends, Bolin whip up any new specials?”

She shrugged and handed the woman the menu and internally swore that it had been like eight months and she still didn’t know the pretty woman’s name, but she knew the kitchen staff by name. She made a note to ask Bolin if he knew.

“Oh, just give me a steak philly,” the woman who had a name that Korra didn’t know ordered.

Korra nodded and put the tab into her POS system under the name “Suits”.

Today the woman whose name probably was not “Suits” was wearing a very smart looking jacket over a dark red blouse and black skirt. It really highlighted her deep green eyes that were watching Korra doing her bartendering duties.

After Korra closed the last tabs of the other bar patrons, who had all decided that it was time to go at the same time, she returned to her only customer.

“So what’s got you up so late?” Korra asked. The Avatar was one of the few bars in the downtown area that sold food this late. ‘Suits’ would come in a few times a month, usually after midnight, order a few drinks and food, and then disappear.

“Ugh, meetings,” Suits said, putting her head on the bartop again. “The first of what is looking like to be very many.”

“Well if you ever want to change professions, I could always use another server,” Korra joked, her mouth making an adorable half smile.

“Thanks, but no thanks. My time waiting tables is over,” Suits smiled back, her sharp features thrown in sharp contrast by the bar’s dim lighting. “And no offense, but this place doesn’t seem like it would be too intellectually challenging?”

“What? Avatar’s isn’t intellectually challenging? I’ve got a crossword puzzle right here from a week ago that I still haven’t finished,” Korra said handing the folded piece of newspaper to the woman whose name was Asami, but not that Korra would know that.

“That’s because 3 across, 17 down, and 45 across are all wrong,” Asami commented after looking at it for only a few seconds.

Then, like she owned the place, reached across the bar to Korra’s register and took a pen out of the dirty pint glass. She crossed out several incorrect letters.

“It’s ‘Kuvira’, ‘accrue’, and ‘oboe’,” she pointed with confidence at the now almost completed puzzle. “Then you just have to get the long one, which if I remember correctly is ‘Pulitzer Prize’.”

“How did you know?” Korra asked in disbelief.

Asami smiled and her eyes lit up. It was that kind of smile that kind of reminded Korra of a wolf, like Suits could eat her up.

There are certainly worse fates.

From out of her bag, Suits pulled the day’s newspaper and placed it, completed crossword face up, on the bar.

“Damn girl,” Korra said looking at the elegant penmanship. “And you did it in pen too. Confident.”

Suits shrugged and took a long sip of her drink. “I’ve been doing them forever. Ever since I was a little girl. It kind of became a habit.”

“So what you are saying is I should get you to help me when I struggle,” Korra responded.

“What would I get out of the deal?”

“Uh… I could give you free drinks?”Korra suggested weakly.

“Deal!”

And before they could go back to talking Bolin rang the bell that said Suits’ food was done. Korra gave her the one second hand signal and ran off to grab the food.

“Hey, Bolin,” Korra hissed. When his face appeared in the window she asked, “Do you know Suits’ name?”

“No… Why?”

“She knows yours.”

“Wow, she is a much better person than me,” Bolin commented. “Sorry, I got nothing.”

Korra frowned and walked back to the bar to give Asami her food.

“Here you go,” Korra said. “Ketchup and hot sauce right?”

“You know me so well,” Suits responded with a warm smile as Korra cursed herself for not remembering her damn name.

Korra left her alone to eat in peace, only bothering her to refill her glass.

She was attractive, even while eating. She had such a delicate grace as she consumed the greasy, but delicious, bar food. Her dark red lipstick remained utterly flawless despite the grease and the meat and the cheese trying so hard to mess it up.

Korra was impressed, in more than one way.

\---

**Eight months ago**

Korra was bartending, as she always was, when a group of well dressed people in their late twenties come into the bar just before midnight. They were all dressed to the nines and looking for shots.

One of the temporary wait-staff carded everyone as Korra started rapidly pouring drinks. They all looked like rich kids and they all ordered fancy martinis and expensive gins, which was not Avatar’s style. This was a beer and whiskey dive bar for the locals, not a rich bar with foie gras and expensive champagne. Korra frowned and poured the drinks and took the leader’s money, an annoying gentlemen who evidently thought all women kind should bow to him and his exceptionally quaffed hair. Korra charged him and gave him his money back. He left a horrible tip and Korra disliked him more than she already did.

She watched the party for a while. There were several rich kids all celebrating something. Most of them fit the ‘dude-bro’ stereotype. All conventionally attractive men, with expensive suits and ties, and expensive watches, none of them had any facial hair or anything that set them apart from the one on his left. Except for one. The center of attention. A woman, with long dark hair, perfect pale skin, a makeup game that Korra thought was nothing short of exceptional. She was wearing an impeccable looking pantsuit that caught Korra’s attention. She filled it out nicely. Her legs were exceptional, long, graceful.

In fact, Korra was caught staring when the beautiful woman in the suit came up to the bar.

“Sorry about them,” she said and Korra could feel heat rising out of her cheeks. She quickly turned slightly to wash a part of the bar top that didn’t need cleaning, just so she wouldn’t have to look the woman in the suit in the perfect green eyes.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Well, whenever you need a minute I could use six… seven… eight shots of whiskey.”

“Coming right up,” Korra said.

“Oh, take your time. I’m sure you have someone else to serve. I don’t have to go right back to them.” The woman jerked her head to the dude-bro convention that had taken over the corner table.

Korra smiled. “I can keep you here for a bit. What is everyone celebrating?”

“I just got a fairly big promotion at work.”

“Congratulations,” Korra said. “High five!”

She doesn’t know why she did that, but she did. The demure, almost delicate looking woman, reached up to give Korra’s dry and calloused bartender’s hand a firm high five.

And was Korra surprised by the forcefulness of the simple gesture. She wasn’t expecting that much power behind it.

Just as she was about to ask, “What do you do for a living?” she was interrupted by the head of the dude-bros asking loudly, “What’s taking so long with the shots?”

“One second,” Korra responded with a forced smile.

“Don’t mind them. Just give them the well stuff.”

Korra nodded and poured seven shots of horrible, bottom shelf whiskey, and one shot of expensive top shelf whiskey.

“That one, is for you,” Korra said. “The rest are for those losers.”

“What do I owe you?”

Korra tried to do the math in her head and failed. She walked over to her register and pushed several buttons. “Forty, your shot is on me.”

The woman pulled out sixty dollars in cash. “You don’t have to do that for me.”

“With coworkers like that, yes I do,” Korra said as she took the bills.

The woman flashed a fleeting smile, “Keep the change. Think of it as an apology for these mugs.”

Korra smiled and knew that she liked this woman. “Good luck,” she called.

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,” the woman said over her shoulder as she carried the shots over to the table.

The group did their shots, were loud and rowdy and annoying for another ten minutes, before the lead dude-bro lead the woman who tipped so well out of the bar.

“We’re open till 2am everyday, food till 1:30,” Korra called at the woman as she left. Desperately hoping she’d see her again. But then again Avatar didn’t really seem like that lady’s kind of place. It was a dive, but it was a good dive. The most expensive drink they had was eight bucks. And the woman Korra would start to refer to as Suits was probably as rich as she was pretty, which meant that she’d probably be able to buy Korra out of all of her liquor with just a single paycheck.

So Korra was pleasantly surprised when Suits returned a few weeks later to sit at the end of the bar and drink moderately priced alcohol and cheap, but delicious bar food.

\---

Suits had finished her food and Korra leaned over the bar to ask, “You know, I never got the chance to ask you what you do.”

She smiled, wiped her mouth without smudging her makeup and said, “I work in R&D.”

“Wow so you are a smarty-pants.”

“These are my smartest pair of pants! Thanks for noticing.”

Korra snorted at the joke, and Asami could almost feel her stomach drop out. The bartender has always been nice to her, giving her occasional free drinks, always asking how she is. Korra seems to care more about her well being than most of the ‘friends’ that she has. Its just Korra’s little snort that she makes when something unexpectedly funny happens puts her over the moon.

 

How many times has she considered writing her phone number on one of the napkins as she leaves the bar? Too many. But then she doesn’t want to be that customer. Hitting on the attractive, tanned, muscular, hot, ok this has gone far enough, bartender unnecessarily.

Korra is super attractive, and she’s only ever seen her face and strong arms. That silly little half smile Korra gives when she makes an obviously bad joke is just to die for.

“What do you do in your R&D labs?” Korra asked.

“I design things, build them, test them, watch them fall apart, spend way too many hours staring at the broken heap of what should be a car or a motorcycle trying to figure out why it doesn’t work, trying to fix it, getting a little drunk and hoping the solution will come to me, rinse repeat.”

“That sounds intense,” Korra responded.

“It is, but I love it. But these meetings, dealing with the people in fancy suits is just too much.”

“You want another drink then?”

“No, I should probably go home. Attempt to sleep and all that jazz before I have to do this again.”

Korra printed out her bill. “So I’ll see you here tomorrow then?”

Asami paid her bill in cash, like always, and said, “It is a distinct possibility.”

For once in her life, Korra wished Suits would pay with a credit card so she could read the name on it and not have to ask because how do you ask the attractive regular who has been a semi-regular presence in your bar for eight goddamn months and not know her name?

And like always, Suits was out the door before Korra could even attempt to give her the change from the bill. Like always the tip was more than generous.

“Bye,” Korra called to the slowly closing door.

Son of a bitch.

She really needed to get her ID or her credit card or ask her out or something. For fuck’s sake.

“Bolin,” she said instead. “Stop making-out with Opal and start closing up.”

After a few seconds and something hitting the ground she heard, “We weren’t making out.”

“Suuuure.”

\---

Sure enough, the next day, Suits came in just before midnight.

“Long day?” Korra asked.

“You have no idea.”

“Can I get you something special?” Korra asked.

“Whatever you make me will be great. Just so long as it is super alcoholic,” Suits responded.

“Oh, this will be fun.” Korra smiled a wide confident smile that made Asami only the smallest bit nervous. What did she just agree to?

Korra cracked her knuckles and then both her elbows before rolling her shoulders and cracking her neck.

“Let’s get started.”

She grabbed a martini glass off the hanger on the ceiling and flipped it over to her other hand. Then she threw a whole bunch of ice cubes in the air, from behind her back, and then caught each cube in the martini glass with expert precision.

From there the put the glass down, and picked up and flipped several bottles. Each bottle was thrown up to the ceiling, caught upside down so that the liquid poured smoothly into a waiting mixing tin, flipped back, and then put neatly away.

After all the mystery ingredients (Asami was much too busy watching Korra’s strong hands and muscled arms to notice what liquors were put in her drink) were shaken and poured into the chilled martini glass, Korra took out a lighter, an orange, and a knife.

Korra threw the orange in the air, then expertly nicked just a the smallest amount of the skin off the side of the orange. Then she took the peel, bent it over the open flame of the lighter and squeezed. Orange zest exploded through the fire and settled into the pink drink.

She placed the finished drink before Asami and their fingers touched. Korra wanted to linger, as did Asami, but the bartender retreated awkwardly saying, “Enjoy.”

The rest of the bar erupted into cheers. Korra awkwardly accepted the applause.

“What is this?” Asami asked after she finished clapping. She was the one that started the applause and she was the last one to stop.

“A cosmo,” Korra shrugged, and blushed. “Pretty simple as martinis go.”

“That was impressive. I’m a little afraid to drink it. It would be like ruining a work of art.”

“Oh please,” Korra said. “It was no big deal.”

“No big deal? Did you see what you did?”

“Yeah, I dropped a couple of cubes,” Korra said. “And I was a little off on the triple sex… sec… the triple sec.”

Her freudian slip caused her deep tan to deepen even further. If Asami noticed, she didn’t say anything. But she noticed and the forth coming mental image was not helping her, well it was helping her take her mind off work because the only thing she could imagine is was Korra looked like naked. Would her ass look as good naked as she thought it would? Instead of trying to say anything she just leaned forward and took a sip of the drink.

“Holy fuck this is delicious,” she said. “Would you be mad if I ordered this all the time?”

Korra rested her forearms on the bar, hands within easy reach of Asami’s own. “For you, I wouldn’t mind at all.”

Asami’s hand briefly rests on top of Korra’s own. It is warm and soft and worn, like someone who has taken great care to work out the rough calluses in her hands, how entirely unlike Korra’s own.

“Hey Korra!” yelled another customer, another regular. “It’s time for me to head home.”

“Alright Vic, I’ll be right with you. I’ll be right back,” Korra said softly, and Asami sincerely wished she would.

But she wasn’t. Several people ordered drinks and closed out. More than once Korra had to lean over to get into the fridges on the floor and Asami swore that she bent over at the hip on purpose, deliberately giving her a brilliant view of her perfectly sculpted ass.

It had to be done on purpose.

It was done on purpose.

Once all of her other customers were taken care of (why do they always come all at once?) Korra returned to the mysterious woman she’d name Suits. “Where were we?”

“You wouldn’t mind making me cosmos all day long,” she responded.

“Hey, I didn’t say anything about ‘all day’.”

Suits smiled. “Don’t worry I won’t do it all the time. Just for special occasions.”

“I was just kidding. I’ll make you anything you want.”

Suits blushed, the red color rushing across her cheeks before she had a chance to hide it.

She hastily tried to change the subject but only further embarrassed herself by asking, “So where does such an exquisite woman like you hail from?”

_Hail from? Really? And could you be a little more forward with the whole ‘exquisite’? Who the fuck says this?_

Luckily for Asami, Korra didn’t seem to be paying attention. She was looking over her shoulder at the couple sitting against the wall.

Korra had an intense face, like she was ready to rip someone’s arms off. She grabbed an empty glass and filled it up with high proof vodka before walking out from behind the bar.

“Hey,” Korra said with a forced pleasantness. Suits turned around to watch. “Could you tell me what you put in the lady’s drink?”

The man, boy really, sputtered, “W-what? I d-didn’t put anything in her drink.”

“You did too, I fucking watching you,” Korra seethed, words slipping through.

“I- I-” the confronted boy stuttered.

“You did what?” the girl he was with yelled.

Korra raised the hand that held the glass of vodka when a bolt of dark hair and a flash of red grabbed her hand.

“Korra, calm down,” said a deep voice. “I’ve got this.”

The glass was taken from Korra’s hand and put on the bar next to Asami.

Then the new person grabbed the boy and lifted him clear off the ground. This new person was clearly strong.

“You and me are going outside,” the new person said. “We’re going to have a little talk.”

“Thanks Mako,” Korra said, almost a little sad.

Korra sat with the girl for a bit, talking quietly, Asami quietly watching them out of the corner of her eye.

Opal, the server, had come out of the kitchen and attended to the bar so Korra could take time to talk with the now crying girl.

Almost no one ordered more drinks. They all seemed to catch the same message that was denied to Asami. They all paid their tabs, tipped, and left, while Korra sat with the girl, comforting her while she cried.

“What the hell?” Asami asked aloud, but it was to herself.

“Its a long story,” Opal said as she attended to Korra’s closing duties. “She’ll tell you at some point if she really trusts you. But needless to say, don’t ever put anything in anyone's drinks here.”

Asami nodded and paid her tab. She left with a quiet goodbye to Opal, and not a word to Korra. She understood and didn’t want to intrude.

The next time Asami was in the bar was almost two weeks later.

“Hey, I’ve missed you,” Korra said, flipping the coaster at Asami as she sat down.

“Sorry. It’s been a bit hell at work.”

“That’s too bad. I never got to say goodbye the other night.”

“You looked like you had your hands full.”

Korra dropped her gaze. “Sorry you had to see that.”

“Hey,” Asami said, forcing Korra to look at her, “if anything it makes me feel a whole lot better about drinking here.”

Korra offered a weak smile. “What’ll it be tonight?”

“Would you be mad at me if I asked for another martini? Even though this place isn’t exactly a martini place?”

“For you, anything.”

One absolutely exquisite shaken vodka martini (with just the barest hint of sweet vermouth) Asami was happy. Especially since Korra had given her an extra glass filled to the brim with olives.

All of the other regulars had once again decided that it was that exact moment to leave, which left Asami and Korra alone in the bar again.

Korra was closing tabs and Asami was idly watching one of the numerous TV’s when it switched to the news about Hiroshi Sato’s continuing scandal.

The business mogul had lately been saying some very uncouth things about certain members of the population, as well as currently being embroiled in a scandal which suggested he gave money to political branches of hate groups, especially those groups that were strongly against the LGBT groups.

“Ugh,” Asami moaned as she saw the news report and proceeded to bang her head against the bar top.

“Stop that!”

“Its just that he can be such an ass sometimes,” she complained.

“You said it, not me,” Korra said with her hands up.

“What?”

“I just don’t like him is all. He’s super rich and innoventive and all, but what does he do with all that money? He funds super PACs and hate groups,” Korra said, her back to Asami, watching the muted TV footage. Then she shrugs and turns back to the pale bar patron. “But then again I’m a bi-woman, who was once a “welfare queen” and I vote democratic at every opportunity. Sato would probably call me a communist.”

Asami drew a blank. She didn’t know where to start with that statement. _She bi, thank sweet Rava above. She was on welfare? What?_

“You were on welfare?” she asks. Tactfully. Note to sober self in the morning: Dear sober self, never let Korra make you a martini again. They are all alcohol. And you do embarrassing things when drunk.

“I thought the bi thing would have been more astounding,” Korra muttered, hoping that would have been the part of the conversation that sparked an interest in the pretty pale woman. She hasn’t done anything to give her a sign that she was interested. And as the bartender she couldn’t go hitting on patrons unnecessarily. Especially not rich, smart, attractive ones that she still doesn’t know the name of. “But yeah, I was injured once, a long time ago. I couldn’t walk for a while. I had to go on welfare to support myself.”

“What happened?”

Asami’s blush grew intensely now. It cover her whole face and she couldn’t possibly hide all of it tactfully. But Korra only laughed, and lifted up her shirt. There was no way in hell Asami’s blush would go away now. She might as well just get it tattooed on her face.

Korra briefly flashed her perfect six pack abs at Asami, who desperately wanted to ask to do a body shot off of them, to lick alcohol out of her belly button and those abdominal muscles that belong in a museum for being so damn perfect. But then Korra turned around to show Asami the lower part of an equally perfect back, but less fun to do body shots off of.

A thin, white scar went parallel to Korra’s hips.

“Long story short,” Korra said, “I was drugged. The guy that took me got into a really bad car accident with me inside the trunk. I barely survived, and it took me a couple months to learn how to walk again.”

“Holy fuck Korra,” Asami breathed.

Korra just shrugged as she repressed the memories, “You want a shot? Cause I want a shot.”

Asami just nodded and Korra poured two shots of chilled liquid into shot glasses. Korra took one, clinked it to Asami’s and downed it before Asami could even grab the glass.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up,” she said after suppressing the urge to choke after taking the shot of anise flavor liquor.

“Its not your fault,” Korra said as she firmly repressed the memory. “It happened a long time ago.”

“I’m sorry,” she mumbles again.

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” Korra reminded her.

She was on the verge of telling her who she was. Whose daughter she was. Who her bigoted father was. But she didn’t. How would that conversation have gone? “ _Yeah I think you dad is raging asshole.” “Me too! But I’ve been trying to keep him from being voted out of our company, because he’s my dad.” “Well he seems to have a personal vendetta against me as a queer woman of color so he can suck it, and so can all of his children.” “...but I’m bi too… He doesn’t like me as much as he doesn’t like you...”_ And then what? _“In that case let’s make out on the bar!”_ Not likely…

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t like me as much as he doesn’t like you,” Asami mumbled.

Suddenly Korra’s hands were on top of her’s.

“What does an old fart like that have to do with your life? You do what you want and you be happy, and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise,” Korra said.

Asami took strength from Korra’s dry and strong hands. She was right, but it was much more difficult than it should have been.

Deep green eyes stared into brilliant blue ones for a long second.

“You want anything else to drink?” Korra asked suddenly.

Asami shook her head. “Not unless you want to give me another shot.”

“One shot comin’ up!”

Another shot, and Asami’s inhibitions were all but gone. She chatted with Korra a bit, she doesn’t really remember what about. And somehow she wound up helping the bartender close the bar.

She shut off neons and TV’s as the muscular and super attractive bartender washed dishes and mats and watered down beer wells. Asami found herself watching the bartender more than she concentrated on the simple tasks she was given. The way the water clung to her skin was mesmerizing.

She was a lot drunker than she thought she’d be. But alas here she was ogling the bartender.

“Well that was a pretty quick close,” Korra said as she shut down the last of the lights, leaving her and Asami alone in the darkness. The only light was orange and dim and coming from the streetlight outside. “Thanks for the help.”

Asami smiled. She noticed how attentive and bright Korra’s blue eyes were even here in the dark.

Before she knew what she was doing, her drunk action took over for her sober ‘that’d be a nice idea’ part of the brain, and put one gentle hand on Korra’s chin, and pulled it up to kiss her perfect lips.

Crimson lips met unadorn pink ones in a perfect moment.

Korra knew that she shouldn’t kiss a drunk customer, even one as perfectly beautiful as Suits. But she also knew that she was delicious and soft and perfect and fucking hot and a joy to talk to.

Asami’s sober part of her brain was freaking out about kissing her favorite bartender. And about what her father would say about his ‘nominally straight’ daughter kissing a fucking hot bartender at a seedy bar downtown. The drunk, and in control, part of her brain wanted her to start using her tongue on the sweet and savory tanned woman.  
In the end sober Korra pushed drunk Asami back slightly.

“Sorry,” the customer said, “I should probably get a cab home.”

“Don’t apologize,” Korra found herself saying. “Just get home safe.”

A second before Asami stepped into the cab she turned and asked the bartender, “How come all of my checks have ‘Suits’ written in as the name?”

At this Korra sputtered. She didn’t have a response.

Asami just shrugged and clambered into the cab, which drove off in short order.

“What the fuck was that?” Korra asked the night air.

\---

The next day, Korra still didn’t know how to feel about what happened last night when she arrived for her shift at Avatar.

She relieved Aang from his dayshift, sitting and bullshiting with the other old timers that came in.

“Don’t forget to draw this months winner of the dinner for two,” he said with a smile before he left the bar with his two inseparable friends and wife.

Korra frowned. She hated calling people on the phone.

But still, she grabbed the large fishbowl, stuck a hand in to grab a business card, grabbed the telephone and when she drew a card she immediately started dialing.

Her mind was way too occupied to read the name on the card.

“Asami Soto speaking,” said the voice on the other end. The same voice that drunkenly kissed Korra last night.

And in a panic she hung up.

In a daze she walked into the kitchen where Bolin was getting ready for his shift with Opal.

“Guess who I just called,” Korra said, phone still in hand, shocked expression still on her face.

“Uh… Tenzin.”

“Nope. Suits, I just called her personal number,” Korra said.

“About time!” Bolin smiled.

“No,” Korra said as she handed over the business card. “Not really.”

“Holy shit,” Bolin said. “the Asami Soto is Suits?!”

“Yeah,” Korra breathed.

“Awkward…”

“Yeah… And she drunkenly kissed me last night.”

“That’s a good thing though, right?” Bolin asked. His expression changed to one of confusion, like he was trying to do complex math in his head.

Korra just looked at the phone. “I don’t know.”

The phone rang. “Future Industries” was calling the bar.

“Answer it!” Bolin said eagerly. “Oooh this is fun!”

“Avatar, this is Korra,” she forced out as she answered the phone.

“Korra? Why are you calling me at work?” Asami asked.

“That’s because, uh,” Korra struggled to get through the phone conversation. Everything was doubly awkward now. “I pulled your name out of the winner a dinner for two jar. So yay.”

“Yay indeed!” Asami said, her smile practically coming through the phone. “Are there any restrictions?”

“Just so long as we aren’t super busy, you can basically do it whenever. Bring a date if you want.”

“Will do, now if you’ll excuse me I have to stop my bigot of a father from running our company into the ground.”

“Uh… good luck with that?”

“Thanks! Bye Korra.”

“Goodbye Asami.”

“So?” Bolin asked.

“She’s going to use it,” Korra said. “I don’t know what you expected me to do.”

“You should have asked her out!”

Korra just rolled her eyes and went to go take over for Aang behind the bar.

She didn’t see Asami for a couple of weeks. Although she did spent more time watching Future Industries in the news. How could she have missed it? Future Industries was literally on the same block as the bar. She could even see Asami in the background when they talk about the board of directors. And then she went and called her father a fucking idiot and a tool. Smooth.

Then on a Wednesday, right as Korra walked into work, there was Asami sitting in a booth, nursing what looked like a gin and tonic and doing the day’s crossword.

“I think six down is ‘Fire Lord Ozai’,” Korra said over Asami’s shoulder.

“No its not,” Asami said without looking up. “It is clearly Azulon.” She wrote the answer in neat little block letters and then looked up at Korra. “Hi.”

“Hi yourself.”

Asami stood up and bowed a little, “I just want to apologize for the other week. I’m really sorry about… what I did when I was drunk.”

“Apology accepted,” Korra said. “Then I guess I should probably apologize for what I said about your family that night.”

“No, you’re were right about my father. He’s kind an ass sometimes, but he’s still my dad. But still I’m sorry for my sober thoughts becoming drunk actions,” she mumbled.

“So you’re here to use your free dinner ticket?” Korra asked, desperate to change the subject.

“Yeah, if it is ok,” she said.

“Not a problem. You want to get started or are you waiting for someone.”

“I was waiting for someone,” Asami said, her perfect green eyes suddenly looked down to her hands that fiddled with the pen she was holding in a nervous attempt to do something, anything with them.

“Oh, did they stand you up?” Korra asked, missing the sound of Asami’s point flying over her head.

“Not yet, as such,” Asami said, nervously twirling the pen in her long, graceful fingers.

Korra looked around the bar, searching for someone that might be joining Asami.

“Oh just sit down and join her for dinner already,” the surly older woman said from the other side of the bar. “You Avatars certainly need a lot of hand holding. I’m blind and I can tell that you two are interested in each other.”

“Oh for the last time Toph, I didn’t need any of your help with Katara,” Aang responded.

The older gentlemen that sat next to the surly old woman groaned. “Aaaaang, I thought that we agreed that you wouldn’t discuss your marriage to my sister at the bar.”

The old trio descended into good natured bickering and left Korra to her slowly dawning realization.

“Wait, you wanted to have dinner with me?” Korra asked.

Asami dropped her pen and hid her face in her hands, embarrassed. Korra felt the blood and heat rising in her face.

“I have a shift in an hour,” Korra complained lightly.

“I ran this bar for thirty years before you were even born,” Aang said. “I think I can manage a couple of hours on a Wednesday night. But you’re the owner, you tell me what to do now.”

“Can you watch the bar for an hour or so?”Korra asked nervously.

“Oh just sit down!” Toph yelled. “We’ll send Opal over.”

“Well now the entire bar knows our business,” Korra said, her cheeks still red.

“So, uh, I didn’t know that you owned this bar,” Asami said.

“Yeah, Aang gave it to me a couple of years ago. But he gets bored and comes in a couple times a week.”

“He looks familiar,” Asami said.

“Yeah, Aang was the guy that punched out Fire Lord Ozai a couple of decades ago.”

“Holy crap.”

“Yeah, Aang is a lot stronger than he looks.”

With that Opal came over. “You want something specific or should I just tell Bolin to surprise you?”

“Just surprise me,” Korra said. “And get me some water.”

“No liquor?” Opal asked.

“Not before I have to work,” Korra said. “You know that.”

“Another tonic water?” she asked Asami.

Asami nodded.

“Keeping sober today too?” Korra asked.

“I just want to keep alcohol out of the equation to hopefully limit the amount of embarrassing things I do tonight.”

Both of them were painfully aware that their legs were touching under the table. Neither of them did anything to change it.

A delighted squeal from the kitchen told them that Opal had put their food order in and Bolin was excited.

They rested their hands on the table, occasionally brushing fingers as they made small talk. Asami’s eyes lit up when she was asked about her work. She talked about it for a while before asking Korra about her own. She shrugged. It was a job, but it was her job. She liked listening to people, getting them to talk about their problems, helping out in little ways.

Asami loved the way Korra could get her to talk about anything. She was a fantastic listener, showing genuine interest in her problems or her interests, asking intelligent questions.

Korra loved the way Asami’s eyes lit up when she talk about her interests. Or how she talked so animatedly with her hands.

Their food arrived and it was delicious. Apparently Bolin had gotten bored with the traditional menu and decided to make a sophisticated pot pie.

“This is delicious,” Asami said. “Not to talk bad about what Bolin usually does, but this is something else.”

“Oh my god,” Korra said. “I never told you about the secret menu. I’m such an idiot.”

“There’s a secret menu?” Asami asked.

“Not really, it is just letting Bolin do whatever, and it is usually pretty good.”

“How did you even meet him?”

“Remember how I told you about the time I was kidnapped way back when? Bolin and his brother Mako actually helped me get out. I was really lucky to have found them.”

“Sorry for bringing it up,” Asami said, looking down and away from Korra.

“It happened, I accepted that it happened,” Korra said. “Aang and his wife Katara helped me a lot with my recovery. It is part of the reason he gave me the bar.”

“Its nice that you have so many people who care for you.”

Korra smiled. “Alright, this has been incredibly fun,” she said. “But old man Aang looks like he’s about to fall asleep on his feet. I really should be starting my shift now.”

“Would you mind if I stayed?” Asami asked.

“Not at all,” Korra said, their hands resting lightly on each other. Korra gave Asami’s a squeeze. “In fact I’d much prefer it.”

Throughout the entirety of Korra’s relatively short bartending shift, Asami sat at the end of the bar. They’d continue to make small talk, having to lean in close to hear each other over the relative noise of the bar. Asami could feel Korra’s warm breath on her skin as the spoke.

The night ended relatively early, it was the middle of the week afterall.

A just like a few weeks ago Asami assisted Korra with the closing duties after the owner sent Bolin and Opal home early.

With the bar cleaned shut down the pair sat at the end of the bar.

“What do you think?” Asami asked.

“About what?”

“Was this a date?”

Korra swallowed hard. “I’d like to think so.”

“Would you say it was a successful one?”

“Only if I got to kiss you.”

“Then why haven’t you already?”

Korra leaned in and discovered that Asami tasted of citrus and tonic water. The kiss was short, it was sweet, it was warm.

“So a successful date it is,” Asami beamed.

“I would like to do this again, for real, sometime,” Korra said, their lips still close enough that speaking caused them to kiss a little with each letter. “Just not at the place I work at and spend a lot of my time in.”

Asami laughed and turned her head away. “Sorry. I couldn’t think of a better way of asking you out. I mean you are gorgeous you must get hit on all the time here and I didn’t want to be that customer.”

“I wouldn’t have minded if it came from you,” Korra said. She hopped up and sat on the bar to look down at Asami from a height for once. “Just so long as you didn’t use a horrible pick up line.”

“What was the worst one you’ve ever heard?”

Korra rolled up her sleeves to show off her stupid attractive arm muscles that Asami swore looked like she could bench press the taller woman without any trouble. Then she coughed and lowered her voice, cocked an eyebrow, and said in a passable dude-bro voice, “Hey baby, are you the Earth Kingdom? Cause you got a Great Divide I wouldn’t mind exploring.”

Asami laughed, hard, rocking back and forth in her chair. “Did someone actually use that?”

“Yeah,” Korra said. “I couldn’t bring myself to kick him out, I had to have Mako do it. I was laughing way too hard.”

Once Asami had regained her composure. “How about the best pickup line?”

Korra just shrugged. “I don’t know,” she mumbled.

Asami was a little disappointed but then Korra said, “How about a victory shot? For a successful date?”

“Sure, make it something interesting though,” Asami said.

Korra smiled that wide smile that meant she had something planned.

She went behind the bar and grabbed the salt and the tequila.

“A tequila shot isn’t a creative shot.”

“Yes, but if you look closely you’ll notice that I lack a shot glass to put it in,” Korra said placing the ingredients on the bar top. “Have you ever done a body shot before, Miss Sato?”

“N- no,” Asami sputtered. How did Korra know what she was thinking? How did she know that ever since she saw those stupidly gorgeous tanned abs the only thing she wanted to do was get her lips and fingers all over them?

“Would you like to?”

Asami could only nod.

Korra continued to smile as she lifted up her shirt. And Asami’s face was approximately the same color as her maroon shirt.

Holy fuck Korra was fit as hell. Those abs… Fuck… Asami could grate cheese on those. And now the bartender had on her bra which was equally distracting. She had to resist the urge to touch.

She laid down on the bar top, and very carefully made a small line of salt across her lower stomach, a an inch above the top of her low cut pants.

“Ok, first you’ll lick up the salt,” Korra said as she grabbed the tequila bottle. “Then you’ll lick up the tequila from my bellybutton.”

Asami could only nod. She didn’t have words any more.

Korra carefully poured the liquor on her own stomach and then laid back.

This was a dream for Asami, something that couldn’t be real because it was too goddamn perfect. She hesitated for a second, then she held her hair back and carefully licked up the salt.

Korra’s abs twitched involuntarily as she was tickled by Asami’s warm tongue.

Then, slowly, without breaking contact with Korra’s marvelous anatomy, Asami drank up the liquor.

She tried to take her time, she really did, but the wonderful moment of pure sexual tension was over much too quickly as Korra sat up.

“You forgot a step,” she said quietly.

Asami looked up at Korra who had a lime held in between her teeth. She closed the distance between them and took the lime with her own lips and their mouths met, once again the kiss tasted of citrus and heaven and tequila.

They broke the kiss as Asami threw out the lime rind.

“That was fun,” she said.

“Care to do it again?”

“Only if you do me,” Asami responded.

“I was going to suggest that later,” Korra said with another wave of heat radiating from her face, but Asami was already unbuttoning her blouse.

“I only have one complaint,” Asami said as she took Korra’s position on the bar.

“Which was what?” Korra said.

“First I should have gotten to lick a spot to keep the salt in place. Second the salt placement,” Asami said confidently.

“How would you have done it?”

Now Asami’s got to smile wolfishly. She reached behind her and undid her bra, carefully covering herself as it fell off. Without revealing anything to Korra she pointed to her cleavage. “Lick right here,” she said as she laid down on the bartop, dark hair framing her beautiful face.

Then it was Korra’s turn to blush enough to match Asami’s discarded shirt.

She did as she was told, and it was as tantalizing and teasing to do as it was to feel.

Asami was almost out of breath by the time Korra finished.

“Now the salt,” she instructed as Korra placed the white powder in the valley of the attractive pale woman’s chest. “The tequila.”

Korra did as she was told, with a shaking hand.

Then it was Asami’s turn to feel the slow, agonizing bliss of Korra licking the salt up from her cleavage and drinking from her belly button. Oh god, Korra’s tongue and breath were warm. And holy shit did she know what she was doing.

When she finished she looked up at Asami who “forgot” the lime and had to move one of her hands to grab one.

Korra was totally enraptured and kissed Asami the kind of opened-mouth kiss of desire and lust before the lime could ever enter the mix.

“How are you so fucking hot?” Asami asked. “It is kind of unfair.”

“I was going to say the same thing,” Korra said. “But you know what else is unfair? That I have on more clothing than you.”

“That is true,” Asami breathed.

“I also have a bed upstairs that we could go to.”

“We should go to there,” Asami said.

Korra grinned and simply picked up the taller woman off the bar and hurriedly carried her up the stairs.

"Overall," Asami said as Korra carried her up the stairs, "that was an excellent pick up line."


End file.
